Today was the day we packed into the car and drove 3 hours to Galați to meet Sonia (my grandmother's youngest sister) as well as my father's two other cousins, Radu and Nicoleta. I was anxious to see just how much Sonia would look like my grandmother Tania and found her to not only resemble her quite a bit, but also share several mannerisms.
Something I was not expecting--maybe because of how preoccupied I was with what Sonia would be like--was how incredibly warm, affectionate, and hospitable the family is. We gathered at Nicoleta's home, and the most impressive and enormous spread was awaiting us on the dining room. It was crazy. That wasn't even the whole meal. There were three courses that followed the spread!
Although most of the conversation was in Romanian, I was able to follow along better than I had expected. It also turned out that Nicoleta is fluent in English (and teaches it, no less) and several other relatives including her son, Andrei. One thing that was interesting to see was how everyone would talk over each other, which reminded me a lot of my Colombian relatives.
Sonia's eyes are identical to Tania's. It reminded me so much of how I would seek validation or approval from my grandmother and never know whether she was proud of me or ambivalent or just plain out of it. I suppose towards the end she was mostly out of it and that's probably why our relationship strengthened during that time more so than in the past. She no longer cared that I was lousy at French or hopelessly lacked grace in my dancing skills.
When we left, Sonia took my face in her hands and told me how glad she was to meet me. She then asked if she reminded me of Tania. That's when I lost it. Yes, there were the physical similarities, but there were also the moments when I caught her sneaking food to the family dog from the dining table, and the way she threw up her hands when she didn't know the answer to a question. Not to mention that very moment while I was sitting next to her as she was tucked into bed surrounded by the same style of paintings and knick-knacks my grandmother collected. It was uncanny and it took me back to when I could hug my grandmother the way I was hugging her in that moment.